Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Fractured Dimensions' Bearded Devils are officially under the brush. Impressive looking multipart minis with all sorts of deeply recessed bits that are nearly inaccessible by brush. The heavy black undercoat in their under-kilt regions is an attempt to deal with the worst of it.

As for the end being nigh, Mortal Arrow will no longer be the distributor of Fractured Dimensions miniatures after today. (I've no inside info on what happens to the minis after that.)

Some work was required to fit two of these guys onto standard 25mm bases (a ledge made from mica flake gel in one case and a strategically placed shield in another).

A little putty-work was needed to deal with gaps at their necks and to rebuild a miscast claw.

Hopefully there will be enough progress to warrant a proper Paint Table Saturday post.

Thursday, May 26, 2016

Courtesy of a name change for Wyrd's metal Lilitu (WYR4030) and a whole lot of red paint, Ashratu, consort of Bael, is complete.

I've
a fair number of Wyrd minis that work well alongside Fractured
Dimensions' Demons and Devils. Sadly, the Wyrd metals are out of
production while Mortal Arrow
will only be distributing Fractured Dimensions miniatures until the end
of this month (May 2016). A word to the wise: get them while you can.

A Beelzebub in hand is worth two in the bush

I don't know the sculptor of this
particular piece; a cool mini that proved a bear to assemble. Both arms
are separate and needed to be pinned. Given the tiny size of everything
involved and general ham-handedness, I managed to drill straight through
and totally mangle her left shoulder.

This was
addressed with green stuff... twice. The first attempt seemed fine until
I put paint on it, at which point it became clear that it was a lot of
things but fine wasn't one of them. Anything worth doing is worth doing well so I had a second go at it with better results.

The palette is much the same as Bael's except for the blonde hair. This utilized a basecoat mix of Reaper's Chestnut Gold and Moldy Skin highlighted and shaded with the other colors shown below.

Some more pics:

The blood spatter was a late addition to a base that seemed a bit bland.

The skull is from Reaper

FD's Bearded Devils (the muscle of the group) are next on the agenda. More on that next time.

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Breaking news... I finished a miniature; specifically Fractured Dimensions' Bael, a testament to Paul Muller's sculpting chops currently available from Mortal Arrow. Currently is the operative word here. More on that later.

Lots of red on this one. The fleshtone is Reaper Cinnamon Red highlighted with Reaper Buckskin Pale while the cloak features Vallejo Vermillion highlighted with Reaper Olive Skin Highlight.

GW washes (Crimson to Violet to Nightshade) were used to build up the shadows. The shading of the cloak with washes alone proved suboptimal (very streaky). Some Vallejo Dark Red and Black Red fixed things.

Bael's symbol at a site in Israel

Lots of freehand on this one too.

Historical Bael (Baal) worship evidently featured a cross symbol and an association with bulls (the animal, not the basketball team). With this in mind an inverted cross/bulls-head combo seemed appropriate for the cloak.

I hadn't planed on much else in the freehand department but the mini seemed to need more so I poured it on. The scabbard even received some gemstones.

Some more Pics:

The creative team at Mortal Arrow provides a back-story for Bael including the fact that he had his tongue cut out and communicates using the severed heads of his enemies. Very cool.

Sadly, Ive learned that MA will only be selling FD minis through the end of the month (May '16). Where (and if) these minis will be available after that, I have no clue. (Well, MA's Facebook page provides a pretty big clue, but as I know nothing for sure I'll leave it at that.)

On the plus side, MA has some neat stuff of its own in the pipeline, including some fantastic giant snails by Pedro Navarro. The ever elusive flumph seems a lost cause but there may be a flail snail in my future.